Contract bags creative duties for Anchor Electricals

Advertising seems to be on a winning spree. Close on the heels of its Delhi branch bagging the SpiceJet account, Contract Mumbai has bagged the creative duties of Anchor Electricals India. The account was awarded to Contract after a multi-agency pitch. The incumbent agency was Art Advertising, which also was in charge of the media duties.

Shalaka Diwanji, head, brand marketing, Anchor Electricals, says that Art Advertising is not on board for either the creative or the media mandate. Anchor is likely to call for a media pitch in a few weeks, once it has decided on its brand strategy.

Anchor has not been active on the ad canvas of late. Its last ad was a corporate ad in 2006, called Team Dependable, which featured cricketers such as Rahul Dravid. It showed how Dravid helped a bunch of schoolchildren studying in the dark because of a power failure in their hostel, by calling up Anchor Team Dependable to fix their power connection.

There was a two-year lull in advertising after that because Anchor India got acquired by Japanese electrical firm Matsushita Electric Works (MEW), which resulted in a significant reshuffling in Anchor Electricals India's management.

Umesh Srikhande, chief executive officer, Contract Advertising, says that though all the major media vehicles will be used, the media mix will be customised for each product campaign.

Diwanji says that Anchor India was looking for an agency that would feel a sense of ownership towards the brand and would approach the branding in a scientific, systematic way. Contract met both of these requirements.

In April 2007, MEW, which owns the National and Panasonic brands, acquired an 80 per cent stake in Anchor Electricals India. Following the deal, Anchor became a consolidated subsidiary of MEW. Other notable brands dealing in the electrical equipment sector in India are Havells, Legrand and Bajaj. The Anchor Electricals range consists of wires and cables, fans, switch gears, lighting and luminaries, fans and home automation.